Dubai: Dubai-based telecom operator du has been appointed by Smart Dubai to build the soft infrastructure for Dubai to make it the smartest city in the world.

“We are proud to be appointed by Smart Dubai to help develop the infrastructure to build the smartest city in the world and we have started working on this exciting project,” Osman Sultan, CEO of du, made the announcement at the Future Cities Show taking place at the World Trade Centre along with the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM).

“In doing so, we are not only guided by the smart city concept but also need to make the happiest city in the world as per the government’s Vision 2021. We are now in the middle of a technological revolution. Being connected is a basic human right. Does anyone realise how much digital content is generated in every minute,” Sultan said.

User base

The announcement comes a few days after du signed an agreement to transform Ajman’s Rumaila District into a smart residential area. Ajman’s Municipality and Planning Department (MPD) and du will work jointly on the Smart Rumaila District Project.

“The world is moving too fast and we need to keep up the pace with the fast transformation. It took the global airline industry 68 years to reach 50 million users. Now it takes months and days for companies to reach that number of the user base, be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Uber or Airbnb,” he said.

In every 30 seconds, he said that 150 million emails are sent out, 2.78 million videos are generated and 2.4 million Google searches are conducted worldwide.